diff --git a/bitchat/Services/BLE/BLEInboundWriteBuffer.swift b/bitchat/Services/BLE/BLEInboundWriteBuffer.swift
index 8174f76c..1a305405 100644
--- a/bitchat/Services/BLE/BLEInboundWriteBuffer.swift
+++ b/bitchat/Services/BLE/BLEInboundWriteBuffer.swift
@@ -41,6 +41,14 @@ struct BLEInboundWriteBuffer {
         for chunk in chunks where !chunk.data.isEmpty {
             offsets.append(chunk.offset)
 
+            // `.withoutResponse` writes always land at offset 0, so an
+            // offset-0 chunk arriving on a non-empty buffer is a fresh frame
+            // replacing stale partial bytes, not an overlap.
+            if chunk.offset == 0, !combined.isEmpty {
+                combined.removeAll()
+                lastEnd = 0
+            }
+
             // Reject malformed writes before touching the buffer: a negative
             // offset traps `Data.replaceSubrange`, and non-monotonic or
             // overlapping offsets corrupt previously written bytes.
diff --git a/bitchatTests/Services/BLEInboundWriteBufferTests.swift b/bitchatTests/Services/BLEInboundWriteBufferTests.swift
index 3e1fd44b..8a8ae55b 100644
--- a/bitchatTests/Services/BLEInboundWriteBufferTests.swift
+++ b/bitchatTests/Services/BLEInboundWriteBufferTests.swift
@@ -190,19 +190,49 @@ struct BLEInboundWriteBufferTests {
         let result = buffer.append(
             chunks: [
                 BLEInboundWriteChunk(offset: 8, data: Data(repeating: 0x01, count: 4)),
-                BLEInboundWriteChunk(offset: 0, data: Data(repeating: 0x02, count: 4))
+                BLEInboundWriteChunk(offset: 4, data: Data(repeating: 0x02, count: 4))
             ],
             for: "central-1",
             capBytes: 1024
         )
 
         if case let .invalid(metadata) = result {
-            #expect(metadata.offsets == [8, 0])
+            #expect(metadata.offsets == [8, 4])
         } else {
             Issue.record("Expected non-monotonic chunks to be rejected")
         }
     }
 
+    @Test
+    func appendTreatsOffsetZeroOnStaleBufferAsRestart() throws {
+        var buffer = BLEInboundWriteBuffer()
+        let packet = makePacket(timestamp: 0x456)
+        let frame = try #require(packet.toBinaryData(padding: false))
+        let splitIndex = max(1, frame.count / 2)
+
+        // Stale partial frame left pending from an earlier write.
+        _ = buffer.append(
+            chunks: [BLEInboundWriteChunk(offset: 0, data: frame.prefix(splitIndex))],
+            for: "central-1",
+            capBytes: 1024
+        )
+
+        // A fresh `.withoutResponse` write lands at offset 0 and replaces it
+        // instead of being rejected as an overlap with the stale bytes.
+        let result = buffer.append(
+            chunks: [BLEInboundWriteChunk(offset: 0, data: frame)],
+            for: "central-1",
+            capBytes: 1024
+        )
+
+        if case let .decoded(decoded, metadata) = result {
+            #expect(decoded.timestamp == packet.timestamp)
+            #expect(metadata.offsets == [0])
+        } else {
+            Issue.record("Expected offset-0 write to restart the stale buffer")
+        }
+    }
+
     @Test
     func appendRejectsOverlapWithPreviouslyBufferedBytes() {
         var buffer = BLEInboundWriteBuffer()